Waking up Dead
by RahvinsCage
Summary: Waking up is a bit strange, when you remember dying. Most people can't tell you what that's like, but I can. And what makes it even more strange, is the fact that I woke up in a fictional world. I'm excited about that though, and I'm going to fix the things that are wrong here. My name is Kagami Uchiha, and I'm here to rewrite the story. OC/S.I.
1. Chapter 1

Waking up is an odd thing.

I know, I know. It's not really that odd, in and of itself. But waking up, after you've died and remembering what happened, now that's fucked up.

It all started with darkness. That was all I saw, and it quickly became all I knew. I don't know for sure how long I floated along in that emptiness. I spent the time I was there just thinking. Thinking about Jenna, my girlfriend. I told her that we'd be together forever, but I guess forever ended. I miss her. I thought of my mother and father who I left behind. I wonder what they thought, seeing me bleeding on the kitchen floor, tears streaming down my face.

And I thought of my younger brother. Thinking back on it, I love him anyway. Despite the fact that, you know. He murdered me.

I don't know why he did it. I was making myself and Jenna some dinner, while she was watching television on the couch in the living room. All of the sudden, my brother burst through the door, and he looked exhausted. I don't just mean very tired, I mean he looked weary to the bone, dead on his feet even. It looked like he had been crying. That's when I noticed the gun in his hand.

" _I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. Tyler… I wish it could be me, but I can't let that happen."_

The last words he said to me echoed through my head, time and time again.

I don't think I blame him, really. He always had a tough life. He was my only sibling for the first seven years of his life, when my younger ssister, Sarah, was born. Four years later though, a couple weeks after my twelfth birthday, Sarah got sick. She didn't make it more than a month. Liam... I don't know how to explain it. He loved Sarah, with his whole heart. It wasn't any weird kind of love, just unshakeable sibling love. I suppose it's like my love for him.

But back to the story.

Liam was hit hard by Sarah's death. He started having nightmares, he would get panic attacks, he basically had a whole host of issues triggered by the death if our sister. Mom and dad, of course, tried their best to get him help. They took him to psychiatrists, they got him pills, they sunk a lot of money into helping him. No matter what they tried though, he would give up. At the end of his grade eight year he began to fall into a bad crowd. I tried to get him out, but he played the "they're my friends" card. He seemed happy, so I guess that's what mattered at the time.

The point is, he spiralled down into a bad place, and by the time I turned eighteen he couldn't get out. Almost exactly two months after my eighteenth birthday, he shot me to death.

The last thing I remember is Jenna holding my hand, kissing me one last time.

Oh, and my parents standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the main hallway. But the kiss really stands out.

After that, I woke up in darkness. Again, I couldn't tell you how long I floated listlessly in space, but eventually I began to feel a rushing, a flow pulling me away from the darkness. It was kind of like standing in a creek, feeling the water pass you by, but over my whole body.

The first thing I saw was bright, fluorescent white. It was everywhere, and it was blinding. Naturally, as I'm sure many men would do, I screamed as the light seared my retinas. It wasn't very pleasant.

I expected some kind of manly shout, or at least a yelp, but that's not what I received. I started screaming, and I didn't stop. Even once I could see, I couldn't stop screaming. Then I realized, I was screaming like a baby. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I was a baby.

And I wasn't the only one there. Another baby, screaming just as loudly as me, was in the arms of a black haired, black eyed woman. It took me a moment, but I eventually recognized her. That... Can't be right.

Mikoto? Mikoto Uchiha? Uh... Huh. That's a little different.

Either I was dreaming, in some kind of coma from being shot, or I woke up in a fictional universe.

No... It wasn't a coma. I could remember the feeling of my heart slowly stopping. Again, not a pleasant experience.

So, I woke up in the Naruto universe, and judging by the appearance of the baby in my new mother's arms, I was Sasuke's twin brother. I could tell already that we were going to look different.

Eventually, I was given to my mother. I stopped crying. It felt... Right.

Some words were exchanged between Mikoto and who could only be a younger, less stressed Fugaku, but I couldn't really understand them. I caught a few words, and I knew they said a couple of names before finally saying 'Kagami' and smiling down at me. I guess my name must be Kagami. Shortly after this final exchange, I found myself drifting into a peaceful sleep. I didn't dream that day, nor for many nights thereafter.

I suppose it was a few months later that I felt the Kyuubi escape from it's prison, Uzumaki Kushina. I was sad, both for the Yondaime and his wife, but also for the Kyuubi himself. He hadn't asked to be put in this situation. He hadn't wanted to be stuffed in a seal and bound in chains by a young woman. This was his first taste of freedom, and he was being controlled by a complete asshole, 'Madara' Uchiha. I could sympathise with him, really. I knew that nobody before had truly tried to understand him, and I felt for him.

Of course, I was terrified by the power and the sheer hate that came with his presence, but I did have sympathy for the gigantic fox known as Kurama.

* * *

 ***Four years later***

Training was, to put it simply, silly. I would pressure my 'tou-san' and Itachi to help me train, and all they would do is make me to push ups and sit ups. I would always tell myself a hundred, but I could only ever make it to around twenty of each.

Let me tell you how this started.

I picked up Japanese pretty easily, despite the fact that I had only known a few token words in my past life. And despite the fact that I could still function well in English. But as soon as I could speak, I started asking to train with my nii-san and my tou-san. Kaa-san never trained, she wasn't a shinobi anymore. But she could still give some advice, which was nice. It was good bonding time, and I found myself truly caring for them like my own family. In hindsight, I guess they were my family.

"Ototo!" I heard a distinctly high voice shout. Ah, it's Sasuke. "How come you didn't tell me you were training again? I would've joined you!"

"Sasuke-nii, you could have just come down here. I start at this time everyday."

"Yeah Kagami-ototo, but you're always in bed so long and I get bored waiting. You could at least come for breakfast first!" Sasuke whined.

"Sasuke-nii, you could just bring breakfast up here. Or even wake me up." I countered.

"Last time I tried to wake you up, you pushed me off your bed and I fell down!"

"Then maybe you'll think before you try to wake me up."

"But you just told me I could wake you up!"

"And what do you think that means?" I asked him.

"Um…" He began tentatively. "Not… To wake you up?"

"Exactly!" I said, beaming. It seems he was learning. "So, next time you want to exercise with me, you should just wait for me to get up. Besides, I only get up half an hour after you. It shouldn't be that bad." I was never really a morning person, but in this body, mornings seemed a little less horrible.

"Wait… Ototo, how do you know what time I get up?"

Sighing, I replied. "Sasuke-nii, you getting up wakes me up. I usually lay in bed for half an hour before stretching to wake up a bit, then I start my exercises."

"I-I'm sorry Kagami-ototo! I didn't know I woke you up, I promise I'll shake the bunk less when I climb down from now on." He apologized.

"Sasuke-nii, don't worry!" I laughed. "I don't mind, really. It's good to get up a little early." I put on my best smile, hoping to ease his worry. It felt kind of odd, because I was so used to the Sasuke that was cold to everyone after the massacre. That was also something I'd been thinking about for the past four years, no matter how they flew by. I was going to keep Sasuke from becoming that cold, hateful person he had been in the anime and manga. If I had to, I would die again for that one small change.

I just really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Anyway nii-san, I'm almost done. Let me finish then I'll go down and have breakfast with kaa-chan, tou-chan, and Itachi-nii."

Ten minutes later, I went downstairs and ate with my family.

* * *

 ***Two years later***

Another two years passed us by, and it was finally time to join the academy. I was waiting for this for six whole years. This was the first step on my journey to changing the fate of this world. Of course, I would have to start at the start. Which meant the basics, obviously. I had a lot to look forward to, but a lot more to slug through.

History, chakra theory, basic throwing lessons. I'd learned most of what I could expect from Itachi, and I even got him to teach me some of the things he knew about the different subjects. As such, and with the liberal use of my clan's library, I already knew the things I needed to know to do well in the academy. Now, there was no way I was going to make Rookie of the Year, I shouldn't mess with the timeline that much, but I'd definitely be near the top of the class.

As my family approached the academy, I tuned out the Hokage's first year speech. It was something along the lines of accepting our duty, and wishing us the best as future shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato.

He seemed like a pretty genuinely kind man, but the anime didn't do him justice. Underneath the grandfatherly image, I could see the Shinobi no Kami, the God of Shinobi. Maybe it's because I knew what to look for, but I could see the way he subtly twitched as sounds came up here and there. I could see the tension in his body, coiled to leap towards the first sign of danger. This was a man who had faced many wars and countless battles.

And standing beside him, beaming up at him, was a little shining ray of sunshine. Uzumaki Naruto, the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He seemed a little bit happier than I had expected him to, but that was a good thing. It would suck for a kindhearted child to be downtrodden, especially on the first day of school.

As the Hokage ended his speech and left, the expected happened. Naruto made a grand declaration of how he would be Hokage, and protect everyone in the village. It was admirable, really, but the fact that he shouted it was kind of irritating. Then he started glaring at everyone, after the people formed a circle around him.

There was muttering to be heard all around, mostly about how everyone's children should avoid him. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Fugaku didn't make any mention of that, and simply looked around in distaste at the way people were treating the child.

Naruto began making more declarations of how he would earn everyone's respect, and he was honestly getting on my nerves. I guess Itachi noticed how I was shaking with annoyance, and how my eye was twitching, because he gave me a questioning look. He didn't say anything, but the message was clear.

"Are you going to do anything, or just stand there annoyed by him?" He asked me wordlessly.

I sent him a look that obviously meant "Don't give me that look" before proceeding to walk to the loud, blond ball of energy.

Naruto stopped mid-speech, and looked curiously at me. I guess he could recognise that I was an Uchiha, or maybe he was just surprised by the fact that a child was actually approaching him. The adults all stopped their hushed comments, and looked at me askance.

"Don't you start with me!" He said. "I don't care what you think, I'm going to be-."

I smacked him upside the head, shutting him up.

"If you're going to be Hokage, you should try and be a little quieter." I muttered, loud enough that everyone could hear.

First, he scowled. Then, I guess what I said really began to register with him, as he started to smile ear-to-ear. It was a heart-warming smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"I guess you're right." He said, much quieter than before. He was still a little loud, but baby steps are how to start. "Thanks for the advice."

I smiled again, then turned around to address my parents.

"Tou-san, kaa-san, nii-san, thank you for walking me and Sasuke-nii here. We'll see you after school! And remember kaa-san, you promised somen for dinner."

With that, I grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled him through the doors of the academy. We were the first, but after a few stunned moments, Naruto led a charge of children through the doors of the academy.

* * *

 ***Two months later***

In the academy, I always sat between my brother and Naruto. Over the two months, we had quickly become close friends, and he would even come over to my house in the compound once a week for dinner and to study. He, of course, hated studying but Mikoto made us all study together. She knew that I already knew all of the current course work, so I was mostly there to help Sasuke and Naruto.

While I had intended to only be runner up, I quickly found myself at the top of the class. I knew I couldn't slack off, for fear of earning Fugaku's ire, so the only time I slept was during lectures. Naruto and I had already agreed on him waking me up when it was time for tests or to go outside to the kunai practice range, so I wasn't terribly worried about anything. We hadn't started taijutsu lessons in the academy yet, but I had started learning from my father and older brother. Sasuke, unfortunately, still had to catch up on theory before he could learn the practical skills with me. That being said, we had both begun learning **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu** **(Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)** together, since it was a right of passage. Sadly, he was ahead of me in that regard. He could get a little spit of flames, but I always wound up coughing up a plume of smoke. Oh well, I would just have to work harder!

It was one day in the target range that I made a hideous discovery.

I had fan-girls.

Now I know, it sounds like it would be an awesome thing, right? Girls throwing themselves at you, people who would one day be attractive cheering you on and thinking you're the best thing to happen to the world. Sounds like most guy's dreams, I know.

It fucking _sucked_. They didn't even pretend to care about me as a person, they just wanted to be with me to be better than the other girls. The only two that were different were Sakura and Ino, oddly enough. Sakura always argued with Ino that Sasuke was better than me, but Ino would support me and fight for me against her friend. They were still best friends, but they would almost constantly have shouting matches about who was better. I guess their shouting was only made worse by the fact that they sat directly behind me, with poor Hinata stuck between them. I know that she wanted to speak up and argue that Naruto was the greatest of us three, but she was too shy.

It was while I was wondering what changes would occur due to my inclusion that Ino piped up to talk to me. She wasn't my best friend, but I guess we were pretty close. We would occasionally sit together at lunch, and we would joke around about Sakura and Sasuke, making both of them blush. I don't know if Sasuke realised, but I could tell that he actually liked Sakura. Imagine my surprise when I realised that, eh?

"Ne, Kagami-kun." Ino said.

I turned around, a little startled by her voice in my ear.

"Yeah Ino-chan?" I asked.

"Wanna cut class?" She asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Now, in my first life I was far from a ladies man. This kind of question would have made me uncomfortable, I would have probably stuttered a bit before I had finally wound up with Jenna. Now though, I was a much more confident person Still, it was a little out of the ordinary for her.

"Uh, why?" I asked dubiously.

"Naruto-baka had an idea for a prank, and he roped me into helping him." She said. 'Baka' isn't usually a very endearing name for people, but I could tell that she had nothing against Naruto. And I had to admit, despite my intervention he was still a bit of a dumbass. I think Ino called him that because Naruto couldn't notice how Hinata felt about him. "Since I was going, I figured you could help out. I know how you like some of his pranks, and I figured that this one was going to actually be good. So, what do you say?"

"Eh," I responded, "Sure. I already know about the Shodai Hokage, so I can afford to miss this."

She handed me a folded piece of paper that detailed the plan. Well, the part that we were part of.

While Iruka-sensei was turned around, Ino and I leapt out the window, leaving blown up dolls of ourselves in our places. Mine, unsurprisingly, was laying on the desk, as though I were sleeping. I have no idea how she had hidden the dolls, but I figured it would be better not to question it.

We walked around the corner of the academy to find a small brown box. Opening it, I found is was full of water balloons. One had a note taped to it.

' _Hey Ino,_

 _I know I told you what to do with the balloons, but this one is a test-balloon for you to try, so you can get used to throwing them already._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Uzumaki Naruto'_

"Do you want the honors, Kagami-kun?" Ino asked me.

"Uh, sure." I said. "What do I do?"

"You see the targets on some of the nearby buildings?" She asked, pointing. I nodded. "Okay, so these balloons are colour coded. You throw the matching balloons to the coloured targets. Naruto-baka said he'd finish up after we're done. I don't know the rest, but it should be good. I'm honestly kinda surprised he planned it out so well."

"Yeah, me too." I muttered. The test balloon worked out pretty well, the paint held inside splattering on the wall surprisingly quietly. I was a little worried about what I got dragged into, but I figured there wasn't much to fret about. After all, Naruto only used paint that would wash off with water, and a pretty big storm was predicted to happen tomorrow.

Ino took the purple balloons and I took the blue ones. There was only one more set of balloons, and of course it was orange. The little idiot's favourite colour.

After we finished with our colours (which just happened to be both of our own favourites) we split the orange ones. To my horror, Ino's last target was a house with a lot of tin on it, loose enough that it would rattle all over the place.

"Ino, wait!" I shouted, only too late to stop her. She turned to me with a confused look in her eyes, only to jump as the tin rattled loudly from being hit by the balloon.

"What the fuck is going on out there?!" And angry voice shouted from within the house.

"Ino." I said slowly. "We need to run."

Not long after that, we found ourselves running from a surprisingly large group of civilians (I hesitate to use the word 'mob'). It took about an hour to lose them all, and by the time that we did, a feeling of dread worked its way into our stomachs.

"Uchiha Kagami and Yamanaka Ino." Iruka-sensei's voice said from right behind us, as we were bent over panting after the chase. "I would have expected this from Naruto, but you two also? I'm disappointed. And your parent's will definitely be hearing about this."

At his words, the feeling of dread became much more intense.

* * *

 **A/N: Yep, I'm going to be working on two stories. At the same time. Still. I might get back to working on the other stories I have, but Life is a Game and this story will be taking up the brunt of my writing. That isn't to say I don't have plans for Naruto Uchiha and Redemption!, but these two are going to be my focus.**

 **That said, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my OC/S.I. fic. It was inspired by the stories A World Full Of Monsters (by Fahad09) and Hidden Among the Shadows (by Shikayna).**

 **Favourite, follow, and review at your leisure!**

 **-RahvinsCage**


	2. Chapter 2: A Change in Perspective

Needless to say, the shit I got in was colossal. My father was profoundly disappointed, as I had been such an 'outstanding student', according to him. I always felt pretty normal, even though I was at the top of the class. As punishment he made me do twice the usual training, so after I finished I was dead tired.

My mother on the other hand, was entertained. Of course, she didn't say so. She put on the most stern face she could muster, and scolded me thoroughly. I could tell from the sparkle in her eye that she was having a hard time not laughing.

Itachi just shook his head with a small smile on his face.

The next morning, the incident was all but forgotten by the adults as the rain began to come down and wash away the paint.

Despite the adults putting it behind them, I had a bit of a grudge against Naruto. I'd have to figure out a way to get back at him, even though I knew it would start a ridiculously long and drawn-out prank war.

The day pretty much passed without incident. I spent most of it glaring daggers at Naruto, and wracking my brain to come up with a plot for my holy retribution. He just glanced at me and chuckled when he met my eye.

Ino looked suitably abashed about the previous day's events, but every now and then she would chuckle too. It was clear that she didn't get in much trouble, which shouldn't surprise me. Inoichi is infamously lenient with his daughter, so I should have realised that Ino would get off with less than a slap on the wrist.

Today I decided to sit at the back of the class, by the windows. It wasn't my usual seat, but the most people did about it was give me a curious look, before shrugging and deciding that I must have a reason for sitting somewhere else. Or at least, that's what it seemed like to me. No sense worrying about that when there is much more important issues at hand.

Issues like Itachi.

Issues like the Uchiha Massacre.

It struck home that time was fading faster than I thought when I saw Itachi return home in what looked like Anbu armor. I didn't see him in his mask, but the wrist guards and shin guards were a dead giveaway. And the exhaustion. But all this served to do was inform me that I needed to get my shit together, and start planning on how to avoid that debacle. If I was six now, it means I had two years to prepare for the massacre.

Of course, I knew I couldn't prevent it. I would only be eight when it happened, it was unrealistic to think that I could stop Itachi, then stop my father from starting a coup. What I could do, though, was prevent Itachi from breaking Sasuke's mind. But there was a nagging thought that I just couldn't seem to shake. Itachi might not leave me alive. Or worse, he might not leave Sasuke alive. I say worse, because things worked out (kind of) for the best in the original Naruto story. If Sasuke wasn't there for it, how much would change? Everything.

So I sat at the back for privacy to plan, after I gave up on glaring at Naruto. I needed to take stock of the things I knew.

Number one, Fugaku and the other clan members were planning (or were going to be planning) a coup d'etat against Konoha and the Hokage. Two, Shisui would try to use his Kotoamatsukami to convince the other clan members to stop the coup. Three, Danzo (that asshole) would take Shisui's eye, and attempt to take the other one. Four, Shisui would give his remaining eye to Itachi before committing suicide, thus awakening Itachi's own Mangekyo Sharingan. Five, this would be the final catalyst sparking the Massacre, as it is the only remaining option.

There was a rather limited amount of options before me. The first thing I could do was try to make ties with the village, in hopes of raising the opinion the hold of the Uchiha clan, thus hopefully preventing the coup entirely. If I couldn't manage that, then I could try and prevent Danzo from having an opportunity to steal Shisui's eye. Maybe that way he could use his Kotoamatsukami on the clan, and prevent the coup himself. Failing that I could witness Shisui's death myself, and console Itachi. I'm not sure what purpose that would serve, but it felt like something I needed to do. He's my brother, after all. I had let my last brother slip through my fingers, and I really didn't want to die at the hands of my brother again. Two for two isn't a good record. After that all I would really be able to do is prevent Itachi from finding Sasuke and me. Hopefully I could find us a place to hide, without Sasuke or Itachi becoming suspicious of me.

I couldn't decide on which option would be best, so I chose to just do them all, in chronological order. Now, how would I be able to raise my standing in the village, and increase the opinion of my clan? It came to me pretty quickly. The answer lay within one of my greatest obstacles.

Uchiha Obito.

I know, I know. I must be crazy, right? Obito would never help me.

No shit.

But he made excuses all the time, stuff like helping an old lady cross the street, or carrying groceries for some family or whatever. Things like that could help. I could be generally altruistic and kind, all the things I tried my hardest to be on my first go-around. It was getting around the time that a person would show tendencies like that, I figured. I never learned much about developmental psychology, but I could make a decent guess as to when these changes occur.

I spent the rest of the class time pondering on all the things I could do. The people I could help, the ways I could help them.

By the time class ended I could feel a few sets of eyes on me. I was busy staring out the window, so I decided not to acknowledge them. My eye started twitching when they didn't realise that I wasn't interested in interacting with them now. Then, because of course one of them would do it, Naruto poked me in the face.

"Ugh." Was my eloquent response.

"What's up, Kagami?" He asked. "You didn't sit with us today, and you've been daydreaming the whole class."

"Yeah Kagami-kun, what's wrong?" Ino asked concernedly.

"Or is something even wrong? You were pretty deep in thought." Sasuke stipulated. "Were you thinking about someone? Your girlfriend?"

When he said that my hand slipped out from under my resting face, and my face smashed against my desk. That wasn't the kind of response to my brooding that I had expected from Sasuke. Of course, Ino's response to his teasing was about the way I would have expected from her.

"G-G-Girlfriend?!" She screeched, grasping me by the shoulders and shaking me violently. "Who is she? What does she look like? How can I be like her?!"

"I-Ino-san," Sasuke started hesitantly, "I was just kidding. He doesn't actually have a girlfriend, I just hoped to snap him out of the funk he was in."

"Oh." She said timidly, releasing me from her death-grip. "Of course. I was just, uh, just kidding!" She laughed weakly. "I've got to go home to help out with the shop, so I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She walked out of the room and closed the door. Soon after a faint thudding sound could be heard from outside the classroom. I also thought I could hear someone muttering "Stupid" as some kind of mantra.

"Don't worry Sasuke-nii, Naruto." I said. "I'm just kind of worried about Itachi-nii. He's been getting a lot of missions, so he must be pretty stressed out. It's hard to tell, but I just know he is. I guess it's not worth worrying too much about though, I'll just be extra nice and helpful, you know!"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point." Sasuke said. "If you need any help with Itachi-nii, let me know! I'd love to help cheer up Nii-san!"

"I'd like to help Itachi-san too, dattebayo!" Naruto said, excited at the prospect of helping people.

"Yeah yeah," I said, "I know you guys will be great help! But I've got to go too, there are some errands I need to run before going home tonight. I'll catch up with you two later, okay?"

They nodded in agreement, and I hopped out the window, bypassing Ino who was still banging her head on the wall beside the door.

* * *

It's been about three months since I started helping out every passerby that I could, and I felt great about it. My grades were suffering due to my constant lateness, but I didn't mind. When my mom found out about why I was always late to class, she got over it right away. She still chastised me about tardiness, and not to get into any kinds of trouble, but her heart wasn't really in it. My father mentioned something about a deceased member of our clan who acted in a similar way to me, but he still considered me to be a prodigy. In his eyes, it didn't matter which of his sons were at the top of the class as long as one was. And it wasn't like I was dropping to deadlast, I just went down two spots in the rankings because of my attendance issues. My scores were still the cream of the crop, and my mental state couldn't have been better.

Sure, I had a bit of a rocky start with my helping strangers. But that didn't get me down. When I started, the vast majority of people didn't want my help due to their distrust for my clan. The occasional older person would hear my offer of help though, and gladly accept. I would walk them across the street, or carry their groceries.

Soon enough, more and more people began to accept my help. It didn't matter to me if I was walking people's dogs, helping out in their shops, or helping to prepare breakfast for the young kids of some of the people I helped more often. I quickly found myself being accepted into other's houses, offered lunches or breakfasts, and being asked to stay for dinner.

I declined these offers, with a few notable exceptions.

First of these exceptions was Ayame and Teuchi at Ichiraku's Ramen. I helped them carry some of their supplies into the back room of their shop, or deliver orders to people around the village. Every now and then, they would send me on my way with a bowl of steaming ramen as a reward for my help. The reason I accepted their recompense was simply because they were some of my favourite people in the village. They were kind, funny, and open to anyone. They were good people.

The next exception was one old lady, whose name I never quite caught. Something lead me to believe I recognised her, but I was never able to pinpoint it. I would carry her groceries for her, and she would give me a lollipop as a reward.

The final of these was the Yamanaka clan. More specifically, the family of the clan head. Ino's mother, Noriko, was always kind to me despite my heritage, and the stigma that came with being an Uchiha. Inoichi on the other hand would cast suspicious glances my way every now and then, but I could tell that it wasn't about me being an Uchiha. I wasn't totally sure what it was about, but I just got a feeling that I didn't want to cross him. There were unspoken boundaries that I was to respect, even though I was never told what they were. But I would help out around his shop, and he appreciated that. Every now and then, the Yamanaka's would invite me to dinner.

It was always a simple affair, but the food was really good. I had been tempted to refuse the first time Ino told me her parents wanted me over for dinner, but I caved to her puppy-dog eyes. That really was an unfair advantage. The way she would pout when she wanted something reminded me a little of Jenna, my girlfriend from my past life. It kind of hurt to see that, even though my memories of her were something I would cherish as long as I had them.

In the end though, I would always cave in to Ino, and send Sasuke home telling my mother and father that I would be home later, and would do extra training because of how sudden my absence was. I knew they never liked how sudden it always was, but there wasn't a lot I could do about it. It's not like we could text.

Over the past three months, I started to change the way I looked. I asked to grow my hair out, and got permission from my parents. At this point, it was shoulder length, with bangs that covered half of my right eye. The bangs were fairly straight, but the rest of my hair was wavy, almost spiky even. I wore the typical Uchiha high-collared shirts of course, and black standard ninja pants. The shirts were a deep purple colour, with the Uchiha symbol proudly emblazoned on the back.

I was also close to an inch taller than Sasuke, which was something I liked to brag about incessantly. I was hoping I would be tall in this life. In my previous one, I was only average height, but with my genes I suspected that I would be above that. I am not embarrassed to say that height was one of my biggest hopes for this world. I wanted to stand out, to be noticed. To be significant.

I know, not very good things for a ninja, right? But look at Kakashi. He stood out like a sore thumb, and he did pretty well for himself. Mei Terumi, future Mizukage of Kiri stood out too. So did Jiraiya. Pretty much everyone who was powerful was noticeable. If I couldn't achieve this noticeability based purely on my body, I would further increase it with my clothing choices, once I was out of the academy. I would also increase the intensity of my presence, and hopefully my chakra.

At six and a half years old, I didn't have a whole lot of chakra. That wasn't to say I had less than the others in my class. No, I had significantly more than everyone with the exception of a certain blond, and our teachers. Maybe this was a result of my strong mind, and the training i started when I was young, strengthening my body. After all, chakra is the energy produced by the union of spiritual and physical energies. If you have a strong spirit/mind, and a strong body, you will have a strong chakra.

Equipped with this knowledge, I strived every day until late at night to improve my mind and my body. I would train until I couldn't train more, and then study until I was made to stop by my family. I might fall behind in the rankings, but I would work hard to ensure that I kept my standing as best student. I wouldn't let anyone be better than me.

It was going to be hard to be the best, being surrounded by future powerhouses like Naruto and Sasuke, but I would be damned if I would let either of them beat me without putting up the fight of a lifetime. I was hailed as a prodigy of the calibre of Neji Hyuuga, and I was eager for the days I would be able to fight with him. Versus or beside him, it didn't matter to me. He was the first milestone I had.

Once I decided on that, I started to research the chakra pathways within every person, and the tenketsu therein. If I could reverse-engineer the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist, I would have the ace in the hole necessary to defeat Neji.

It only took me about two weeks to memorise the placement of the tenketsu in the average body. It was apparently different for everyone, but I was sure that once I awakened my Sharingan that I could train myself to recognise the centers of chakra within people. After that, it was just a matter of expelling chakra through my hands to inject it into a person's tenketsu. Perhaps there would be some unexpected results, due to my lack of Hyuuga chakra, but the day where I could find out was far in the future.

So I devoted my time to helping people, studying, and training.

* * *

" _I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. Tyler..."_

What's this?

" _I wish it could be me, but I can't let that happen."_

 _There was a flash._

 _There was pain._

 _There was Jenna._

I remember this.

 _She was crying, my brother was crying. I think I was gasping, but it was more of a wet sucking sound._

Oh, so that's where he shot me. In the lung. Does that mean I drowned in my own blood? That sounds unpleasant.

 _As I felt my life slipping away, I felt Jenna kiss me one last time. As she pulled away, I could see blood smeared on her lips. It was mingling with the tears streaming from her eyes as she wept for me._

 _I shook my head, and gave her a weak smile, grabbed her hand, and squeezed._

 _Out of the corner I could see my parents in shock at what they saw in front of them. I saw my mother sink to her knees, as my dad just stood there. He looked vacantly at me, tears falling from his eyes._

Were his eyes always that grey? I guess it's weird what you notice when you're dying again.

 _I felt my heart slowing. I saw Jenna backing away._

 _I saw my brother raising the gun again._

 _It wasn't at me._

 _It was at Jenna._

* * *

I shot awake, screaming at the top of my lungs.

My eyes were burning, and tears were streaming from my face now. My head was pounding, and I could still feel the pain in my chest. It was terrifying, knowing the pain of slowly dying. Remembering in vivid detail the events that lead to your own death. The betrayal of a loved one, the desperation felt when you realise that nothing you can do would keep you attached to the world.

There was something I didn't notice the last time I experienced that. I didn't register him pointing the gun at Jenna. Just remembering that I saw that made me increase my efforts to scream my vocals chords to shreds. It was a wordless scream. Just terror, hurt, desperation.

At some point I realised that my whole current family was in the room Sasuke and I shared. I didn't stop screaming.

Eventually, when I couldn't scream any longer, I noticed that someone was holding me. I didn't really expect who it was. It wasn't my father, nor was it my mother. It was even my twin.

It was Itachi.

And he was crying with me.

After a while, I calmed down. My breathing returned to a ragged gasping. I looked around my room to find the light of the rising sun illuminating the room. My mother and father were consoling Sasuke, assuring him that I was going to be alright, that it was just a nightmare that I had.

Itachi felt me relax, and leaned back so he could look me in the eyes. When he did, he gasped. I think it was the most emotion I'd ever seen on his face. It seemed to be a mix of worry, pride, and… Confusion?

"Itachi-nii, what's wrong?" I asked, my hoarse voice barely more than a whisper.

"Your eyes, ototo." He began. "They're… You've awoken your Sharingan."

My mother, father, and twin all stopped what they were doing and looked at me in shock and awe. My father's head rocked back as though he had be slapped, my mother gasped, and my twin brother just ogled.

And that's how, on the morning of my seventh birthday, I awoke my Sharingan.

* * *

 **A/N: It's been awhile, eh? Glad to be getting back to this story. I like the idea of writing an OC Uchiha. One thing I've always been fascinated by was the Sharingan, and coming up with ways to describe how it works, how it feels to use. It's something that I look forward to exploring in this fic.**

 **I hope the chapter was long enough to satisfy you people, and I hope you enjoyed it in general. I spent a decent amount of time writing this, I guess.**

 **Without anything else to say, favourite/follow/review at your own discretion. I'm willing to accept any advice given, or at least consider it. Also, let me know what kind of abilities Kagami should have. What his Mangekyo should be able to do, what it would look like. Even his affinity. I have some ideas, but I'd like your recommendations as well! If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in a review, or PM them too me. Questions will be answered as well, so ask away!**

 **~RahvinsCage**


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